Ratchet and Clank Nex: Falling Star
by CNFan42
Summary: The Lombaxes are running out of time and Lillian is the only one who can save them now. But she won't be doing it alone. After crossing back to the other dimension, she meets Ratchet and Clank.Plus someone who doesn't want them to complete their mission. On top of that, Lillian is hiding a big secret from them. What is is it. Read to find out.
1. Prolouge

Hi. I'm CNFan42. I don't have much to say so I'll just come out straight. This is my first official fanfic. It may or may not be good. I'll let you deicide. Also, if you end up seeing something in it that looks familiar, don't pin on me for it. I either didn't know or I did know and tried not to copy it 100%. I do like to be original.

Note: I did give the female lombaxes tails. I know they don't have one, but all my friends either want them to have tails or just don't care.

Also, if you know me on , then I just want to say that I'm sorry for being late. I was hoping to get it up sooner. Plus, it may take a while for a new chapter to come up. I have to type it out of the book I'm writing this in.

Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ratchet and Clank. All rights belong to Insomniac Games, Inc. Please support the game series. Thank you.

Prologue

General Cross stepped outside from the building he was posted at. He looked out into the horizon. Seeing nothing, but a blanket of sand ruffled by dunes. In the distance, a cloud of sand rose up.

A sandstorm. Again.

He sighed. Yesterday, it was hot and dry. He was now wishing for that same weather today.

At last, praying and wishing would not change the fact that the storm was getting closer. He went inside and pushed a button next to a speaker and microphone.

"This is General Cross reporting from Outpost Gamma. There's a sandstorm coming in from the southeast."

He looked outside with a grim look on his face. The storm had increased in size.

"Freya's secret project better pull through," he muttered as he prepared to lock himself in before the storm arrived.

Okay. So it's just a prologue. Don't fuss. I'll have chapter 1 up by today.

Promise!


	2. Chapter 1

See? I said I would get the first chapter up by tonight. Didn't I?

Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ratchet and Clank. All rights belong to Insomniac Games, Inc. Please support the game series. Thank you.

Chapter 1: A Town Covered in Sand

General Cross left the outpost the moment the storm had cleared and a Lieutenant came to check on him. He went back to the base. As he passed through the town, homes and buildings where covered in sand. Some were trapped inside because too mush sand had accumulated in front of their doors and other had to suffer outside with only thin clothes to protect them. He wasn't sure how much more they could take. _They were running out of time._

He walked into the base. Two guards saluted him as he walked through the doors. He soon found himself in a large room lined with computer terminals on the walls. The wall on the opposite end, however, had only one computer. It was because it was a big computer and what it was hooked up to was bigger. It was like looking at an oversized hexagonal washer.

From within the bowls of the great machine was the sound of crossing wires and mechanical part being moved about.

"So this is what you've been working so hard on," said the General.

Bonk!

"Ow!"

Slowly, a head rose up with a hand gripping its noggin. She looked over to the General with brown eyes that were in large by big, round glasses. "Oh! General. I didn't hear you come in." a ginger lombax rose up from the machine. Her dirty white lab coat had been buttoned up three fourths of the way to prevent her clothes from getting dirty.

"Just finishing up some last minute preparations."

The General walked up to her as she unbuttoned her coat. "Freya," said the General as she took a cleaning cloth out of her coat's pocket. "Are you sure this will work?" Freya looked at the General with bit of a smile. "Yep! Positive, sir. My calculations have been checked and doubled checked. The preparations are all in order."

She removed her glasses and wiped both sides of the lens. She didn't notice the unsettling look he was giving her.

Freya was smart. Very smart. She could solve complex equations and write codes better and faster than anyone else. She did have one flaw, however. She would forget some key details or a minor calculation that would have a major outcome on the overall product.

"Let's just hope it works… for our sake."

"We still need a volunteer," said Freya as she put her glasses back on.

"Don't worry. Finding one shouldn't be too hard," said the General with a smile. "It's picking the right one that should be difficult."

Yep. This is all I got for the first chapter. I will try to get chapter 2 up by tomorrow.

It gets more interesting. I promise.


	3. Chapter 2

A day late than what I was hoping, but better than never. I worked hard to finish this one.

Enjoy!

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Ratchet and Clank. All rights belong to Insomniac Games, Inc. Please support the game series. Thank you.

* * *

Chapter 2: Trial by Obstacles

Lombax Dimension 1400 hours

General Cross had called a meeting the next day for all Praetorian Guards to assemble in the mess hall. No one knew why. Chatter was going all about as one another tried to figure out what was so important.

Some of that chatter died down when Captain Katherine McCore entered the mess hall. Captain McCore, or better known as Iron Mace Kate, was a six foot, two brown lombax with muscle. She was skilled with the mace. (Thus the nickname.) Some of her supporters shuddered at the sight of her.

Another lombax, clearly female, looked over at her. Her face was hidden by a helmet she wore and she mostly had on standard Praetorian Guard light armor. Iron Mace Kate noticed her and felt a little pissed off at her. She didn't feel threaten, though, because she was no more than four foot, ten.

Luckily, the General entered the mess hall. There was tension building up just from those two looking at each other.

Everyone in the hall kneeled down and bowed with their right hand in a fist and over their heart. The traditional lombax salute. The General out his hand up.

"At ease."

Everyone rose up.

"We are in need of a volunteer for an extremely dangerous mission. Now I can only give details to the chosen volunteer, but I will say this. There will be great honor bestowed onto you if this mission is successful. Now, who believes they're up to the challenge?"

Immediately everyone in the hall raised their hand.

"Okay. Okay," said the General with a smile. "I guess there was no point in asking. I suppose something like this is natural instinct for lombaxes." Everyone smiled and a few even let out a mild chuckle.

"There will be a Trial by Obstacle in which the first two that make it through, will fight each other. The winner of that fight will be our chosen volunteer."

General Cross turned to Freya, who had been standing behind him. "Is everything in place?" Freya nodded her head. "Yes, sir. Everything is ready."

The General turned back to the crowd. "Everyone is to report to the training gym in half an hour. Good luck to you all." The lombaxes left the mess hall. As they did, Cross scanned through the crowd. A worried look on his face, that didn't go unnoticed by Freya. She waited till everyone was gone to ask him.

"Is everything alright, sir?"

The General sighed with great relief. "I was worried that she might be among the others, but I didn't see her."

"Do you mean…" Freya was cut off as the General noticed an elderly lombax enter the empty mess hall. He recognized her even with the hood over her head. "Consular Volnin! What are you doing here?" She walked up to them, one hand behind her back, practically hidden by her clock, the other hand clutching a cane in the shape of a wrench. "Come now, Cross. Are you really that surprised? You didn't think that wouldn't know about your little project, did you?"

"N-no, Consular. I-I mean, I knew… you knew about it. It's just I wasn't expecting to see you here today."

Volnin was a lombax with white fur due to aging and dull brown markings. She had lovely blue eyes, though. She removed her hood, causing her earrings to jingle. "Who will be going through?" she asked. She spoke like a kind old lady, but with strength in her voice. "The volunteer will be chosen by battle between the first two to make it out of the trial by obstacle." Volnin hummed slightly at the thought of it. Then she noticed Freya.

"Ah! This must be the brains behind the Rima Project." Freya tensed up and blushed a little when she looked at her. She had forgotten that she was wearing a golden arm band with a black bolt on it, meaning that she was the chief of engineering. "Y-ye-yes, m-ma'am. I-I'm F-Freya Kinson." This was the first time she had ever talked face to face with an member of the grand council.

Training gym 1430 hours.

Just about every guard was there ready to take on the challenge. An obstacle course had already been set up full of falling and moving platforms, long jumps, and a section that would tenderize you into one fine meat burger.

With the sound of a horn, they all ran off. Though some were almost automatically stopped the moment they stepped onto the reverse conveyer belts. Others were out of the challenge when they fell through the falling platforms that were set up in between. Nearly a fifth of the competitors were already out. About a tenth of what was started with was also eliminated due to pile ups as some were too slow or just stopping all together just before a jump. Off to the side, General Cross, Freya, and Consular Volnin watched as one after another failed. The consular shook her head as on lombax attempted at a long jump. He had barely made it, but one foot slipped off the ledge and had caused him to loss his balance. Another came along and jumped too soon. He tried to grab on to the ledge, but one hand grabbed the other's foot and they both fell down together. "This shouldn't take too long," she said as another tried the long jump, but was too soon and completely missed the ledge. "If we're lucky."

During the climbing portion, Iron Mace Kate had managed to clamber her way to the top. One guy that was almost there saw her, got so scared of how close she was that he threw himself off.

As for the mysterious guard in the helmet, she was doing just fine. She kept up with the captain. When she got to the balance and strafing portion of the course, by which had eliminated a third of the remaining competitors; she showed jumps and back flips with grace. The General noticed that. It remained him of the way Kaden use to show off.

At the last portion, only two had made it. The captain and the other in the helmet. It was full of obstacles that would punch, grind, and knock you right off. The captain cleared it easily, showing off her strength, speed, and agility. She was the first to clear the course. There was applause for her, she put a fist into the air and began shaking it with a grin on her face. She took the elevator down and was greeted by the General.

"As expected," he said.

"It's not over yet," said consular Volnin as she came up from behind. "Look."

They looked up to see that the lombax in the helmet was still standing just before the final portion. She took a deep breath and put one foot forward. It all seemed to happen in one graceful dance. She dodged every obstacle, showing off speed, agility, and grace. Within no time, she was at the elevator and on her way down. "Not bad," said the captain. "But, unfortunately for you, that means you have to fight me."

As they walked over to the mates, anxiety was building up. It was hands down. Everyone knew who was going to win.

In the captain's hands was a mace that had what looked like two heads of a wrench interlocked together. The other had… nothing. Bare hands.

"Do you not have a weapon?" asked the General.

She shook her head.

"Do you want one?"

She shook her head again.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded leaving the General with a confused look. "If you… insist." The General was clearly worried and had a right to be. No one ever goes up against Iron Mace Kate without a weapon. She was either brave or stupid.

He stepped over to the edge of the mates; put a hand into the air. The girl in the helmet readied herself into a fighting stance. Feet apart, knees slightly bent, left fist out right fist in. the General brought his hand down in the form of a karate chop.

"Begin!"

Kate was the first to attack. She charged at her with her mace being held behind her, ready for an upper swing. She didn't notice her opponent bend her knees inwards. Kate swung at her or where she had been a second ago.

The captain lost her balance for a moment due to the surprise. She looked behind her and there she stood. Iron Mace Kate was getting pissed off again. She raised her mace up high and was attempting to hit her in the head. The masked girl ducked at the last minute and did a couple of backwards hand springs to put some distance between them. A few "Aw"s and "Oh"s went around. No one had lasted this long against the captain without getting hit. If she wasn't pissed off before, she was now.

She gave a battle cry and charged at her. Her mace swung up, missed her head. But on the return trip down, it made contact with her right shoulder. She tried to dodge it, but was slightly too slow and now she was gripping the area where the shoulder meets the arm. She staggered back and kneeled down before kate, who had her mace up high above her head, ready to knock that stupid helmet off.

If it wasn't for the helmet, she would have been able to see the grin. The masked girl leapt between Kate's legs at the last minute and with her right leg, swung it at her feet, causing her to fall over. The General was impressed, but it didn't end there. Kate got up, staggering a bit. The next thing she knew was being punched in the face three times. She staggered back gripping her face. Three more hits were landed: one in the side just above the hip, another behind the knee, and another in the back. "That's the Hornet!" exclaimed Freya, who was amazed. So was the General. The last person he saw fight this well was Alister Azemith. They watched in awe as a blitz of punches was laid out. Finally, Kate fell backwards as she was delivered an upper cut to the chin. Her mace dropped to the mate with a thud. She laid there, trying to get up, but here body was just too sore from the constant attacks. So she let herself slump onto the mate.

At first, it was silent. Then, everyone applauded and cheered. The masked girl clamped her shoulder, that was still in pain, as she walked over to the General. Both he and Freya were impressed. Volnin just smiled and gave a wink that nobody noticed. The General calmed everyone down.

"Okay. Okay. And just who is our brave champion?"

She reached for her helmet. Tension drew in. She grabbed it. Everyone was leaning in. She lifted it up slightly. Volnin turned her head to look away, but was still smiling. The helmet came off. Long, light brown hair came down, everyone frowned and gasped at the sight of her. Her long mane, buttermilk fur, and rose pink eyes made it clear who she was. She took her helmet under her arm and saluted to the General, who had lost his smile.

"Sergeant Lillian Blakon, sir."

At that moment, General Cross's face showed a combination of shook and terror. It was though someone had just played a cruel joke on him.

* * *

Suspense! OOoooOOOooo!

Why are they so surprised?

Find out later in a few chapters. you'll know when Ratchet and Clank find out.

Till then... keep reading.


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